In the energy industry, electricity consumers are divided into classes for purposes of rate-setting, energy planning, load distribution and cost analysis among others.

The most common classification divides energy customers into four classes: residential, commercial, industrial, and a catch-all group referred to as other public authorities. Each class is assumed to have somewhat different needs and progressively higher energy demands than the previous class. Residential is distinguished from commercial use by the nature of energy use, not by the amount of energy used. A residential customer may use more energy than a commercial customer. Industrial users are the heaviest private users. Other public authorities may include governments, street and highway lighting systems, transit and railroad authorities, and energy sold to other utilities.

These four classes can be divided into subclassifications for various purposes, with the main classification preceding the subclassification. Examples from each class might be residential-with-electric-heating, residential-rural, commercial-agricultural, industrial-self-generating, and schools and public daycare facilities.

While this classification scheme is the most common, it is only one of several methods the energy industry uses to classify customers.

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